$600 Million Fund-Raising Effort Reaches Halfway Mark; UO Announces Recent Large Gifts to 'Campaign Oregon: Transforming Lives'.

EUGENE, Ore. -- The University of Oregon's $600 million fund-raising campaign -- the most ambitious in state history -- has raised $300 million, UO President Dave Frohnmayer announced today (Jan. 24).

"The University of Oregon has a long and proud tradition of competing with the best, but competing is not enough -- we must excel," said Frohnmayer, who made the announcement at news conferences in Eugene and Portland. "Our future is our choice, and we choose distinction. That is the mission of Campaign Oregon. We have a very ambitious goal for the dollars we seek in this campaign and an even more ambitious goal in the legacy we hope to leave: a great university for Oregon for generations to come."

"Our generous alumni and friends are making an extraordinary investment in the future of our university and our state," said Campaign Chair Randy Pape of Eugene. "Campaign Oregon is a plan for greatness. Its goal is to raise $600 million to provide the investment capital for the highest quality education, and I am honored to be associated with this university and its quest for excellence."

Campaign Vice Chair Tim Boyle of Portland added that the success of the campaign so far shows that "the University of Oregon has a group of visionary supporters who can see that the university is poised for great leaps forward in teaching, research and service and who are willing to contribute their own resources to make that happen."

Gov. Ted Kulongoski offered his congratulations to the university for reaching this milestone in the campaign.

"What an incredible achievement and a wonderful goal for the University of Oregon," stated the governor. "I extend my sincere thanks to Tim Boyle and Randy Pape for spearheading this effort, and to all the donors who are making access and quality a reality for generations of Oregonians to come."

The public phase of "Campaign Oregon: Transforming Lives" will be officially launched at a gala dinner and program on Saturday, Jan. 29, on the UO campus.

The campaign focuses on four cornerstone areas:

--Opportunity -- increasing student scholarships and fellowships and enhancing the student experience.

--Inspiration -- boosting endowed faculty positions and support for new academic programs.

--Discovery -- enhancing support for faculty and student research and scholarship.

--Connection -- strengthening university programs that benefit the community, state and society.

Besides improving student access and academic programs, the campaign is raising funds for campus building projects that include expansion and renovation of the School of Music building, a new College of Education complex, new facilities for the theater program, renovation of Condon Hall and Gilbert Hall, and a new integrated science complex, basketball arena and alumni center.

The campaign started in January 2001 and is expected to run through 2008.

Already, the campaign has surpassed the total raised by the university in its last comprehensive fund-raising effort, "The Oregon Campaign," which shot past its initial goal of $150 million to raise $255.3 million in private gifts between 1992 and 1998 for student scholarships, endowed faculty positions, academic programs and campus building projects.

Frohnmayer announced several recent significant gifts to the current campaign that helped push it past the halfway mark:

--$5 million from Patrick Kilkenny of San Diego, Calif., to support programs in the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics

--$4 million from an anonymous donor for creation of the Society of College Scholars -- which will provide faculty mentors to honors students in the College of Arts and Sciences; for scholarships for the society's students; and for an endowed professorship in the Lundquist College of Business.

--$3.6 million from the estate of Laura and James Baker to establish an endowment for unrestricted use by the UO Foundation.

--$2.3 million from Julie A. and Keith L. Thomson of Portland for the College of Education building expansion project and for scholarships in the College of Education and throughout the university.

--$1.35 million from the Rosaria P. Haugland Foundation of Eugene to endow a chair in pure and applied chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences.

--$1.25 million from Julie and Rocky Dixon of Lake Oswego, Ore., to endow the Rock 'N' J Chair in History in the College of Arts and Sciences.

--$1 million from Christine and Chris Smith of Portland for the operating endowment in the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.

--$1 million from Penny and Michael Wilkes of La Jolla, Calif, to endow a professorship in architecture in the School of Architecture and Allied Arts.

--Significant support from M.L. and M.W. Smith of Eugene for Presidential and Dean's Scholarships and other programs.

Link: http://campaign.uoregon.edu